30 July 2004 – 4:02 pm +0800
Closing ceremony in less than an hour. My socks are hanging in the sun to dry so that I can wear shoes instead of sandals. There’s been lots of hugging, lots of silly faces and laughter and all the usual last day stuff.
But no crying.
Nope, not even me.
But we’re going to have a [...]
30 July 2004 – 2:59 pm +0800
At the end of the first class this morning—each class sat down with each teacher for one period, sort of a goodbye, though there is more to come—the students wanted me to sign their books. So I did. Except one student forgot his book, so he had me sign his camp t–shirt.
I created [...]
29 July 2004 – 8:57 pm +0800
Tomorrow morning are our last classes, afternoon is closing ceremony, and the kids get bussed back home at 8 a.m. the next day.
I really, really, really, really, really hate this part.
Am I gonna cry? Probably. Will I let anyone see me do so? No bets, either way.
28 July 2004 – 8:14 pm +0800
Our second field trip was an outdoor outing, despite the temperatures, but more on that anon. But this isn’t about that.
Lunchtime came, and I had the burning desire not to be surrounded by shrieking children whilst munching. I also thought some wind might be a nice respite from the heat. So I [...]
28 July 2004 – 12:33 pm +0800
Some of the kids are monsters. Many are aggravating. All of them have moments of obnoxiousness.
Except one.
After the first day of classes, one of the other Americans asked me “Did you see that one kid in Class One?” I nodded, knowing exactly whom he meant. “Is that a little boy or [...]
27 July 2004 – 6:30 pm +0800
None at all, except you try keeping up with five dozen 8 to 15 year olds without feeling totally wiped out at the end of the day.
Today was a field trip—lots of running, lots of hot, lots of humid, lots of climbing—so by rights I should be even more drained right now. And I [...]
22 July 2004 – 7:03 pm +0800
Number of times I have been asked if I have a girlfriend: 12
…if I am married / have a wife: 6
…if I have a baby: 1
Meals skipped due to my picky eating habits: 2
Skipped meals supplanted by instant noodles purchased at local market: 1
Number of meals in which mystery meat [...]
21 July 2004 – 1:30 pm +0800
At this English camp we’ve got three American teachers, myself included, and five Chinese assistants (mostly to translate things the kids don’t understand). Three of the assistants each stick with one of the three classes, the other two are floaters.
One of them, amusingly, doesn’t speak English nearly so well as he does Spanish. [...]
21 July 2004 – 12:49 pm +0800
Many thanks to Tom, who emailed this link during our absence explaining (somewhat) the origin of “props“.
Kudos, credit. “I hate Dallas, but you gotta give Aikman his props.” Often used with “Mad” (”Mad props for this website, Beeotch!”). Origin: from “proper respect.”
Which makes me think its genesis was concurrent with “dis” (disrespect), but I’ve heard [...]
20 July 2004 – 12:14 pm +0800
I didn’t mean not to post for four days. In fact, I expected to post on each of those days, but…
See, as of the fifteenth, I’ve been in a tiny town called Songjiang, about 40 minutes outside of Shanghai. My gig right now is teaching at an English camp, spending two weeks with [...]
15 July 2004 – 3:07 pm +0800
I’m talking “props to so–and–so” which is apparently positive or, even more positive, “mad props.”
I mean, are the proposals? Propositions? Proprietors? Propagations? Propane tanks? Propensities?
Just what is the root of this pimply idiom?
I won’t go into the use of “mad” as a positive; it apparently means “crazy,” and there are [...]
14 July 2004 – 5:11 pm +0800
Over at JimSpot, I found this:
I believe I was trying to explain to her how lucky she was to have so many toys and it just flowed from there. I had been telling her that I did’t have toys as a kid, since there were four of us and since kids are so expensive, Gramma [...]
14 July 2004 – 3:07 pm +0800
If you are going to do a thing, do it all the way, without reserve.
I finally found a Spidey 2 DVD. I bought the pirated DVD from a shady guy with an unlicensed street vending display on Huaihai Road, just east of Xizang Road. May not watch it tonight, due to a tight [...]
14 July 2004 – 2:43 pm +0800
…until I reaffirm my love of Lileks:
Ben Grimm (the Thing) is Jewish. Reed Richards? Episcopalian, I’d bet. Silver Surfer? Unitarian.
Not a guffaw, but a definite chortle. I mean, what else could the Silver Surfer be?
14 July 2004 – 2:20 pm +0800
Tom at Undercaffeinated is back, after spending the past week living the life of a non–blogger.
It’s scary stuff.
He compares his impression of the big news of the week gleaned passively from Big Media:
The main story seemed to be an Intelligence Committee Report that “hurt Bush’s credibility,” and “will provide a boost to the Kerry campaign.” [...]